User Reviews

Season 1, episode 7. This one left me feeling sick - I guessed Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish was a snake... and my guess was right. Cersei and Joffrey are making me more angry - I can't stand either one of them. Daenerys and Khal's marriage they seem closer than ever - and at this point in the series I still don't trust nor like either one of them. Jon Snow and his friend Sam - I fear for both of them. There are snakes everywhere and this episode pulls them out of the wood-works.

9.5/10

Ned is going to pay a price for the King's odd lack of foresight. He has been badly wounded by a wild boar he was hunting. He knows he has little time left. Two things come in to play in this episode. First of all, it is the king just signing a piece of paper giving Ned dominion over his kingdom until his son is of age. The other is a man, trying to poison the queen of the horse people. The first sets up Ned as a traitor, and the queen responds with a vengeance. The second incites Drogo to cross the water and gain control of the Seven Kingdoms. Before this, he was happy to maintain his own kingdom and stay put on one side of the water. Now he is a force to be reckoned with. More complications. Ned's daughters' lives become more complicated. The one who would be queen is now seen as a traitor's daughter. The little one gets her first taste of blood. The last we see, her "dancing instructor" (teacher of swordsmanship) stands with a wooden stump to face a knight with a sword. She rushes away at his advising.. Things are now split wide open, with Ned no longer useful to the monarchy.

This is such a smart show. Great writing and acting.

The score is great. So is the crew. This episode is really good at setting up the episodes to come later this season. It does it in a really good way. No wonder this show called the best show ever.

10 out of 10. Just amazing.

The many threads of this wonderful story are all developing beautifully and this episode ramps things up to the highest level. With the different locations, all with very different visuals and different feel this adds so much rich quality to the viewing experience.

At the wall Jon is faced with his Uncle Benjen's horse returning without him making Benjen's survival even more in doubt. Jon also learns he is not going to be made a Ranger but be appointed as steward to Lord Mormont. He also is aware of dangers facing his family in the South. Amongst this he has to decide to make his vows and become a sworn brother of the Night's Watch. Most people would probably, logically ride back to Winterfell but the honorable, dutiful Jon with his doubts about his place in the world makes the choice to take his vows. A key decision that will be called into question very quickly. All the acting of Kit Harington, James Cosmo, Peter Vaughan, Owen Teale and John Bradley is great providing depth to Jon, Mormont, Maester Aemon, Alliser Thorne and Samwell Tarly delivering dialogue and expressions that make every scene work perfectly.

An attempt is made on Dany's life which causes Drogo to make a powerful move towards war. This exciting development brings a great piece of dialogue from the book to life brilliantly. The speech from Drogo is magnificently delivered by Jason Momoa. Emilia Clarke and Iain Glen continue to act with grace and subtlety as Dany and Jorah.

Tywin Lannister makes his entrance as a character in a brilliant scene with his son Jaime. Charles Dance is simply perfect as Tywin and immediately imbues the character with such class and power that is magical to watch. Nikolai Coster-Waldau ad Jaime plays his part brilliantly too showing some background to Jaime's motivations and inner conflict.

King Robert (Mark Addy) sustains a serious injury on a hunt throwing the political struggles in King's Landing into a drastic situation requiring pivotal decisions. Ned (Sean Bean) has a great scene with Cersei (Lena Headey), again wonderfully brought to life from the book, where he warns her of his intentions. His honour overriding any clever manouvres. With Robert's injury Ned is named Lord Protector but must face the calculating Cersei and vile Joffrey, impressively played by Jack Gleeson. All the acting of these scenes is amazing and the scene in the throne room with Ned hoping to gain support from Ser Barristan, Littlefinger and the City watch against Cersei, Joffrey and the Kingsguard. Electrifying and hugely dramatic.

This is a truly great episode which sets the series alight and starts to make a claim to be one of the finest (possibly the finest) shows of the last 30 years. 10/10.

Is Game of Thrones just an other Good versus Evil battle ? I doubt it because I don't think George R. R. Martin is that naive and titling his work A Song of Ice and Fire was just a way to appeal our Manichaean reptilian brain. After all there's a reason why J. R. R. Tolkien set his fantasy writings in Middle-earth. Smoking dragons wouldn't be able to burn villages if they weren't able to fly. That's for the air. Is there a common ground for all these families ? And what if the Gods were only toying their creation from deep down the sea ? Atlantis, Greek and Norse mythologies… The perfect number for the most pivotal episode so far. Se7en wicked steps to lose it and feel alive : 1. Digest the recap to freshen up your dry memory and dive in the most wonderful opening of all title sequences. 2. Chop up an animal corpse from beginning to end in front of the camera and give a visceral lecture on family values to Jaime Lannister. 3. Let the Littlefinger talk while teaching an exotic prostitute how to please the curvy nature of a Caucasian beauty. 4. Alert Jon Snow, hint at a possible beginning of the end and unveil an intriguing destiny. Bonus : Dungeons & Dragons joke. 5. Forge A Golden Crown for Daenerys dear brother then melt Ned's fate in the most unpredictable shapes. 6. Learn Dothraki to make sure you understand what Khal Drogo says because Jason Momoa's performance was both gentle and furious ! The 7th is obvious, it's yours.

I hate that little finger bloke. He is the biggest jerk in the entire show

Soundtrack : (9.3/10) Dialogue : (9.8/10) Story : (9.7/10) Cinematography : (9.4/10) Character development : (9.6/10) Conflict : (9.7/10) Excitement : (9.6/10) Reasonableness : (9.5/10) Overall : (9.6/10)

Pros :

• several strong conflicts occur everywhere

• every scene has intriguing dialogue

• viewpoint of different characters to the main conflict in this episode

• reveal of a strong truth and the action made toward it

• a shocking ending which has a powerful hangcliff

• the introduction to the most bad ass character in the show

• a great ending to a great character.

Cons :

• None . Literally NONE .

Finally we go back to the wall after two episodes away, we see our young hero, Jon Snow, take his vows. After being mentioned so much, Charles Dance finally appears on screen as Lord Tywin Lannister and we get some more good scenes with Daenerys (not sure if it's me, but Emilia Clarke seems to be getting more attractive with each episode. She has a gorgeous smile) and Drogo (Jason Momoa) then there is the noble Ned Stark.... Oh Ned....

For me this episode suffers from it's a complete lack of Tyrion and Arya. (Two of my favourite characters) but it's still gripping TV none the less.

And of course once again.... What an ending. I seem to say that after every episode, buy this show just makes you need to watch the next episode.

You Win or You Die is another great episode so far and has gotten progressively better. The conversations continue to be interesting with some great tension especially the scene where Cersei Lannister and Ned Stark having a conversation about before she said this line.

"When you play the game of thrones you win, or you die. There is no middle ground." Lena Headley, the actress who plays Cersei Lannister in this episode, delivered that line in the most quiet and epic way possible. Kudos to the writers for creating that scene so great.

The story is still good, the rest of the performances are still great, the script is terrific, the pacing, while a bit slower, is still fine, and the music score is still great and suited the scene between Cersei and Ned really well with a sense of eerie and subtlety. So, overall, another great episode and this season might get progressively better once I review the last three episodes.

This is the seventh episode of the first season of the Game of Thrones. It's a very good episode, and it one of the better episodes to have appear so far in the first season. The stakes are higher, the feelings are more emotional, and now we have Kings Landing in danger from an enemy across the seas. Also, stay tuned for a great ending. It's an ending that you may or may not have seen coming.

In this episode, "You Win or You Die," King Robert is back from the boar hunt, but he lays dying after a grave injury. Ned Stark confronts Cersei and tells her who her son really is. Jon Snow makes his Night Watch vows, despite feeling unhappy for his new role as steward and the disappearance of his Uncle Benji. Finally, after Vaenarys is nearly poisoned by a man sent by Robert, Drogo calls for war against King Robert.

Overall, this is a great episode. It's one that kind of sad to for various reasons. Once again, we get fantastic acting all around. The final few episodes are going to be something to keep an eye on.

My Grade: A

Robert has sustained fatal injuries while hunting and is dying. Jon and the others finally take their vows to the Night's Watch. A man, sent by Robert, is captured after attempting to poison Daenerys. Furious, Drogo vows to attack the Seven Kingdoms.

What I Liked:

Cersei and Ned's scenes in this episode are both brilliantly constructed and tautly written, giving both Lena Headey and Sean Bean some of their best material on this show so far.

As usual, it is impossible not to be impressed by the high-quality production value, as well as the meticulous attention to detail. Again, acting all around is solid.

As with the previous episode, this one ends with a shocking cliffhanger, even with the foresight that Littlefinger is an untrustworthy individual and would eventually betray the Starks.

What I Disliked:

Littlefinger's scene in the brothel was off-putting and lacked any subtlety. It is not hard to surmise Littlefinger's motives; his exposition is unnecessary and trite.

Overall:

Game of Thrones continues to deliver fantastic episodes. Almost every episode has left me shocked and wanting more by the time the credits roll.

9/10

King Cadmium.

Came to 'Game of Thrones' fairly late in the game and due to being so busy the binge-watching was gradual. Have found myself truly loving the show, very quickly becoming one of my favourites. It totally lives up to the hype and not only does it do the brilliant source material justice (a rarity in television) it is on its own merits one of the finest, most addictive and consistently compelling shows in recent years and quality-wise it puts a lot of films in recent years to shame.

'Game of Thrones' first season continues to keep going from strength to strength. There is not a bad episode for me in the first season and, while not quite one of the season's very best episodes like "Winter is Coming" and the previous two episodes, "You Win Or You Die" doesn't disappoint. The overlong, repetitive and gratuitous expositional sex/prostitute scene with Littlefinger is the one drawback to a wonderful episode.

"You Win or You Die" has many scenes that work very well indeed. The final showdown with the Lannisters, the confrontation between Ned and Cersei, Drogo's rant regarding his son and the Iron Throne and Ned's moral dilemma between stubbornness and honourable intentions are particularly good, and Robert's final scene is very movingly written and acted. It was good to see the villainous characters given the spotlight, as it was to see the Dothraki at their most interesting and Khal Drogo emerging as an interesting character.

Visually, "You Win or You Die" looks amazing. The scenery is throughout spectacular, the sets are hugely atmospheric and beautiful on the eyes with a real meticulous eye for detail and the costumes suit the characters to a tee. The make-up is beautifully done. The visual effects are some of the best of any television programme and are not overused or abused, the scale, the detail and how they actually have character and soul are better than those in a lot of the big-budget blockbusters. As well the cinematography and editing, which are cinematic quality as well.

One cannot talk about "You Win or You Die" without mentioning the thematically, orchestrally and atmospherically multi-layered music scoring and the unforgettable main theme. Again, worthy of a high-budget fantasy/action/drama film.

It is hard not to be bowled over by the quality of the writing, outstanding isn't a strong enough adjective to describe how good the writing is once again. It always has a natural flow, is layered and thought-provoking and demonstrates a wide range of emotions such as suspenseful tension, poignant pathos and witty humour. As well as being one of the most thematically rich ones of Season 1, the story is paced beautifully, structured with such nuance and attention to coherence, a high emotional level and is done with intelligence, passion and sensitivity.

Helped by the superb character and multi-layered writing throughout, the acting is hard to find fault. There couldn't have been a more perfect choice for Lord Tywin than Charles Dance, while Sean Bean's dignity, Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau's ability to convey so much of the tension between him and Tywin with few lines, Mark Addy's poignancy, Emilia Clarke's expressive understatement, Jason Momoa's steely-eyed intensity and Aidan Gillen's broodiness also stand out greatly.

Overall, with the exception of one scene this is wonderful. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Another good episode. "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die," Cersei says - which in time will prove to be quite accurate. For now, some are better at playing this sort of game than others, it seems ...

They are my favorite characters and it's going to be hard for anyone to beat them

Anyone who has hunted and/or skinned an animal knows clearly that the stag/elk on Tyrians table was already skinned prior to him "skinning it in front of Jamie Lannister.